Liquid crystal display device

ABSTRACT

In a multi-gap semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device, the width of a black matrix ( 6 ) is made larger above the region between adjacent ITO transparent electrodes ( 3 ) and is made smaller above the region between adjacent Al reflective electrodes ( 4 ). This enables a transmissive portion to offer a display with high contrast that does not suffer from afterimage or the like by shielding light from the domain lying between the adjacent pixels, and the reflective portion to offer a brighter display by increasing the aperture ratio thereof by making the black matrix width as small as possible or forming no black matrix.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an active-matrix liquid crystal displaydevice that offers transmissive and reflective displays, and moreparticularly to a liquid crystal display device such as a cellular phoneor a car navigation system that is provided with a medium or small sizedhigh-definition monitor (a liquid crystal display panel, a liquidcrystal display element).

BACKGROUND ART

Since the conventional liquid crystal display devices are thin andconsume a low amount of power, they find wide application in a varietyof field including portable electronic information apparatuses such ascellular phones, and help spawn new markets.

However, market requirements are accordingly increasingly demanding yearafter year, and, with the advent of contending technologies such aselectroluminescence (EL) or electronic paper, liquid crystal displaydevices are required to offer an advantage of their own and high displayquality. It is under this background that semi-transmissive liquidcrystal display devices, in particular, have been keenly sought after,because they have good visibility even in strong outside light or in adark place, which cannot be provided by the electroluminescence (EL) orelectronic paper.

Some semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device are structured asfollows. A reflective display electrode (a reflective electrode) isformed in part on a transparent display electrode (a transparentelectrode) of a transmissive liquid crystal display device. In thiscase, however, since the reflective optical path length is twice thetransmissive optical path length, it is impossible to offer high displayquality in both transmissive and reflective portions. To address thisproblem, Patent Publication 1 discloses a technique of improving displayquality in both transmissive and reflective portions by optimizing thetransmissive optical path length and the reflective optical path lengthby forming a depressed area at the center of a pixel region on anelectrode substrate so as to form a transmissive portion and providing areflective electrode around the transmissive portion. Hereinafter, sucha structure is referred to as a TFT multi-gap structure.

FIG. 5 is a plan view schematically showing a pixel portion in aconventional TFT multi-gap structure, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view ofFIG. 5, taken along line C-C.

As shown in FIG. 5, in a liquid crystal display element 100 having theTFT multi-gap structure, pixel portions are provided one for each regionsurrounded by adjacent gate conductors 101 and adjacent sourceconductors 102, so that a plurality of pixel portions are arranged in amatrix. Each pixel portion has a transmissive region 103 at the centerthereof and a reflective region 104 around the transmissive region 103.To form a multi-gap, there is provided a tapered region 105 (shown inFIG. 6) near the boundary between the transmissive region 103 and thereflective region 104, where there is a height difference between resinlayers. This tapered region 105 does not contribute to transmission orreflection, and is practically an ineffective display region.

On the other hand, to deal with the above-described problem that thereflective optical path length becomes twice the transmissive opticalpath length, a technique of forming a cell gap oftransmissive/reflective portions on the opposing substrate side has beenadopted in recent years. Hereinafter, such a structure is referred to asan opposing layer multi-gap structure.

FIG. 7 is a plan view schematically showing a pixel portion in aconventional opposing layer multi-gap structure, and FIG. 8 is asectional view of FIG. 7, taken along line D-D.

As shown in FIG. 7, in a liquid crystal display element 200 having theopposing layer multi-gap structure, pixel portions are provided one foreach region surrounded by adjacent gate conductors 201 and adjacentsource conductors 202, so that a plurality of pixel portions arearranged in a matrix. In each pixel portion, a transmissive region 203and a reflective region 204 are arranged, as seen in a plan view, one inan upper part and the other in a lower part of the pixel.

With this opposing layer multi-gap structure, there is no need to form aheight difference in the part where the transmissive regions 203 of theadjacent pixel portions are adjacent to each other, and there is a needto form a height difference in the part where the transmissive region203 and the reflective region 204 are adjacent to each other. When sucha height difference is formed between the adjacent pixel portions, it ispossible to form a tapered region 205 (shown in FIG. 8) producing theheight difference over an ineffective display region in a conductorportion lying between the pixel portions on the TFT substrate.

Thus, this opposing layer multi-gap structure makes it possible toextend a usable effective display region near the conductor portion. Inaddition, only one of the four sides of the transmissive portion, whichis rectangular as seen in a plan view, serves as a tapered region (anineffective display region), where there is a height difference betweenresin layers. This helps reduce structural waste, and makes it possibleto increase the total aperture ratio, that is, the sum of apertureratios in the transmissive and reflective regions.

Patent Publication 1: JP-A-H11-316382 DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTIONProblems to be Solved by the Invention

In the conventional TFT multi-gap structure mentioned earlier, adepressed area is formed in an insulating film. As a result, currentleakage easily occurs between a transparent electrode of thetransmissive portion and surrounding conductors lying on the lowerlayer. To avoid this, a depressed area formed by etching, for example,needs to be located at more than a certain distance from the surroundingconductors. As a result, at a height difference between the rectangulartransmissive portion formed at the center and the reflective portionformed around the transmissive portion, a tapered region of resin existsaround the all four sides of the transmissive portion, serving as anineffective display region that does not contribute to a transmissive orreflective display. This increases structural waste, and undesirablyreduces the aperture ratio.

On the other hand, in the conventional opposing layer multi-gapstructure described above, in the region 205 where the source conductor202 and the transmissive region 203 overlap one above the other, thetransmissive regions 203 of the adjacent pixel portions are adjacent toeach other without interposing the reflective region 204 therebetween.In this region, a liquid crystal cell gap is thicker than that of thereflective region 204, and an electric field existing between thesubstrates is weaker than that of the reflective region 204. As aresult, since the ratio of the electric field existing between theadjacent pixel electrodes (horizontal electric field) to the electricfield existing between the substrates becomes larger than that of theconventional structure, this region has display characteristicsdifferent from those of the normal region. In particular,characteristics are reduced greatly in a normally white mode in whichblack is displayed when a voltage is applied, and in dot inversiondriving in which a potential difference between the adjacent pixelportions is large.

An example of such characteristics reduction is a reverse tilt domain,undesirably leading to poor contrast or afterimage. Even when light isshielded from the problem region by an electrode conductor, reflectivedisplay characteristics are affected by the light reflection on theconductor. Thus, it is characteristically preferable that light beshielded by using a black matrix formed on the opposing substrate side.However, shielding of light by using the black matrix necessitates touse a black matrix having a width of up to about 30 micrometer (μm). Theproblem here is that a black matrix having such a width leads to asubstantial reduction in the aperture ratio.

In view of the conventionally experienced problems described above, anobject of the present invention is to provide a semi-transmissive liquidcrystal display device capable of a transmissive display that does notsuffer from domain afterimage or the like and offers high displayquality and a reflective display that is bright due to high reflectance.This liquid crystal display device has a liquid crystal display panelthat does not suffer from poor contrast or afterimage in bothtransmissive/reflective displays, and that can achieve a brighterdisplay due to a high reflective aperture ratio.

Means for Solving the Problem

To achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the presentinvention, a liquid crystal display device is provided with a liquidcrystal display panel. In this liquid crystal panel, a liquid crystal issupported by being sandwiched between a pair of electrode substrates,each having a plurality of pixel regions formed two-dimensionallythereon, each pixel region has at least one transmissive display regionand at least one reflective display region, the transmissive displayregion is, in at least one side thereof, adjacent to a transmissivedisplay region of an adjacent pixel region without interposing thereflective display region therebetween, the reflective display regionis, in at least one side thereof, adjacent to a reflective displayregion of an adjacent pixel region without interposing the transmissivedisplay region therebetween, an inter-pixel region lying between theadjacent transmissive display regions and an inter-pixel region lyingbetween the adjacent reflective display regions lie in the same straightline, and a black matrix is formed above the linear inter-pixel regionslying between the adjacent transmissive display regions and between theadjacent reflective display regions. In this liquid crystal displaydevice, the black matrix is formed to have a multiple width in such away that the black matrix has a larger width above the inter-pixelregion lying between the adjacent transmissive display regions and has asmaller width above the inter-pixel region lying between the adjacentreflective display regions.

To achieve the above object, according to another aspect of the presentinvention, a liquid crystal display device is provided with a liquidcrystal display panel. In this liquid crystal panel, a liquid crystal issupported by being sandwiched between a pair of electrode substrates,each having a plurality of pixel regions formed two-dimensionallythereon, each pixel region has at least one transmissive display regionand at least one reflective display region, the transmissive displayregion is, in at least one side thereof, adjacent to a transmissivedisplay region of an adjacent pixel region without interposing thereflective display region therebetween, the reflective display regionis, in at least one side thereof, adjacent to a reflective displayregion of an adjacent pixel region without interposing the transmissivedisplay region therebetween, an inter-pixel region lying between theadjacent transmissive display regions and an inter-pixel region lyingbetween the adjacent reflective display regions lie in the same straightline, and a black matrix is formed above the linear inter-pixel regionslying between the adjacent transmissive display regions and between theadjacent reflective display regions. In this liquid crystal displaydevice, the black matrix is formed only above the inter-pixel regionlying between the adjacent transmissive display regions and is notformed above the inter-pixel region lying between the adjacentreflective display regions.

In the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the pixelregion, the transmissive display region, and the reflective displayregion are all rectangular as seen in a plan view, and the pixel regionis divided into a plurality of regions, so that the transmissive displayregion and the reflective display region are arranged in the pluralityof divided regions.

In the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the pixelregion is divided into two regions in the up/down or left/rightdirection, so that the transmissive display region and the reflectivedisplay region are arranged in the two divided regions.

In the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the pixelregion is divided into three regions in the up/down or left/rightdirection, so that the transmissive display region and the reflectivedisplay region are alternately arranged in the three divided regions.

In the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the pixelregion is divided into four regions in the up/down and left/rightdirections, so that the transmissive display region and the reflectivedisplay region are alternately arranged in the four divided regions.

In the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, aconductor portion (an ineffective display region) formed betweenadjacent pixel regions in one electrode substrate of the pair ofelectrode substrates and at least one tapered region (an ineffectivedisplay region) producing a height difference between the transmissiveand reflective display regions, the tapered region being formed inanother electrode substrate, which faces the one electrode substrate,are arranged to overlap one another, as seen in a plan view.

In the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, theplurality of pixel regions are arranged in a matrix, the pixel regionsare provided one for each region surrounded by a scanning conductor anda signal conductor, and each pixel region includes a transparentelectrode formed in the transmissive display region, a reflectiveelectrode formed in the reflective display region, and a transistorelement that is formed near the intersection of the scanning conductorand the signal conductor and drives the transparent electrode and thereflective electrode according to a signal voltage fed from the signalconductor based on a scanning signal fed from the scanning conductor.

In the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, thetransistor element is covered with the reflective electrode.

In the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the blackmatrix is formed above the scanning conductor or/and the signalconductor so as to overlap the scanning conductor or/and the signalconductor.

In the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the widthof the black matrix formed above the inter-pixel region lying betweenthe adjacent transmissive display regions is in the range from 10 μm to30 μm, both ends inclusive.

In the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the widthof the black matrix formed above the inter-pixel region lying betweenthe adjacent reflective display regions is in the range from 3 μm to 10μm, both ends inclusive.

In the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the widthof the black matrix formed above the inter-pixel region lying betweenthe adjacent reflective display regions is smaller than the width of theblack matrix formed above the inter-pixel region lying between theadjacent transmissive display regions by, at each side, a predetermineddimension in the range from 1 μm to 15 μm, both ends inclusive.

In the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the widthof the black matrix formed above the inter-pixel region lying betweenthe adjacent transmissive display regions is 18 μm, and the width of theblack matrix formed above the inter-pixel region lying between theadjacent reflective display regions is 6 μm.

With the structure described above, the present invention has thefollowing advantages.

The alignment of the liquid crystal molecules near the boundary betweenthe adjacent pixel portions is disturbed by a horizontal electric fieldgenerated by a potential difference between the adjacent pixel portionsor a leakage electric field from the conductor arranged below theelectrode, resulting in poor display quality. In the opposing layermulti-gap structure, when transmissive portions of the adjacent pixelportions are adjacent to each other without interposing a reflectiveportion therebetween, the alignment disturbance in the transmissiveregion becomes greater than that in the reflective portion due to a weakelectric field between the electrode substrates. That is, the reflectiveportion suffers little from a reverse tilt domain caused by a horizontalelectric field, and yet, in the conventional structure, a black matrixhaving the same width as that of the transmissive portion is arranged inthe reflective portion, unnecessarily leading to a low aperture ratio.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, in the multi-gapsemi-transmissive liquid crystal display device in which adjacenttransmissive portions are adjacent to each other with a black matrixlaid therebetween and adjacent reflective portions are adjacent to eachother with a black matrix laid therebetween, the black matrix is formedto have a larger width along the transmissive portion and have a smallerwidth along the reflective portion.

As described above, according to the present invention, a black matrixBM having a larger width is arranged in the transmissive portion tocover wide alignment disturbance, and a black matrix BM having a smallerwidth is arranged in the reflective portion to cover narrow alignmentdisturbance. This makes it possible to achieve a maximum aperture ratioand a proper display quality with a minimum light shielding region.

There may be cases where, depending on liquid crystal cell mode, drivingstate, and positional relation between the electrodes, alignmentdisturbance occurs between the adjacent transmissive portions, but doesnot occur between the adjacent reflective portions. In such a case, itis possible to adopt a structure in which a black matrix BM is arrangedonly above a straight line between the adjacent transmissive portionsand is not arranged above a straight line between the adjacentreflective portions. This makes it possible to achieve a maximumaperture ratio and a proper display quality with a minimum lightshielding region.

As described above, the transmissive portion can offer a display withhigh contrast that does not suffer from afterimage or the like byshielding light from the domain lying between the adjacent pixels, andthe reflective portion can offer a brighter display by increasing theaperture ratio thereof by making the black matrix width as small aspossible or forming no black matrix.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a black matrix formed above a singlestraight line is made to have a larger width in the region wheretransmissive portions are adjacent to each other, and is made to have asmaller width or not formed at all in the region where reflectiveportions are adjacent to each other. This makes it possible to obtain ahigher aperture ratio by shielding right from the region between thetransmissive portions where alignment disturbance occurs due to ahorizontal electric field and by shielding no more light than isnecessary from the reflective portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 A plan view showing an example of the structure of a principalportion of the liquid crystal display element of a first embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 A sectional view taken along line A-A shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 A sectional view taken along line B-B shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 A plan view showing an example of the structure of a principalportion of the liquid crystal display element of a second embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 5 A plan view schematically showing a pixel portion in aconventional TFT multi-gap structure.

FIG. 6 A sectional view taken along line C-C shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 A plan view schematically showing a pixel portion in aconventional opposing layer multi-gap structure.

FIG. 8 A sectional view taken along line D-D shown in FIG. 7.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

-   -   1, 11 gate conductor    -   2, 12 source conductor    -   3, 13 ITO transparent electrode    -   4, 14 Al reflective electrode    -   5, 15 TFT element    -   6, 16 black matrix    -   6 a larger-width portion    -   6 b smaller-width portion    -   10, 20 liquid crystal display element    -   103, 203 transmissive region    -   104, 204 reflective region    -   105, 205 tapered region    -   501 gate conductor    -   502 interlayer insulating film    -   503 drain electrode    -   504 source conductor    -   505 insulating film    -   506 transparent electrode    -   507 reflective electrode    -   508 liquid crystal    -   509 opposing substrate

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the liquid crystal display elements (liquid crystal displaypanels) of the liquid crystal display devices of first and secondembodiments of the present invention will be described with reference tothe drawings.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a principal portion of theliquid crystal display element of the first embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A shown inFIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line B-B shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, in a liquid crystal display element 10 having theopposing layer multi-gap structure, a plurality of pixel regions (pixelportions) are arranged two-dimensionally in a matrix on the side of aTFT substrate, which is one of the electrode substrates. The pixelportions are provided one for each region surrounded by a gate conductor1 serving as a scanning conductor made of tungsten and tantalum and asource conductor 2 serving as a signal conductor made of titanium andaluminium. The pixel portions are each rectangular as seen in a planview, and are each provided with an ITO transparent electrode 3 forminga transparent display region, which is rectangular as seen in a planview, in an upper layer relative to the source conductor 2 with aninsulating layer laid in between, an Al reflective electrode 4 forming areflective display region, which is rectangular in a plan view, abovethe ITO transparent electrode 3, and a TFT element 5 that is formed nearthe intersection of the gate conductor 1 and the source conductor 2 andserves as a transistor element for driving the ITO transparent electrode3 and the Al reflective electrode 4 of the pixel portion. The ITOtransparent electrode 3 and the Al reflective electrode 4 are arrangedalong the plane of each pixel region (pixel portion), one in an upperpart and the other in a lower part of the pixel.

The pixel pitch of this pixel portion is 50 μm wide by 150 μm long, forexample. A clearance of 3 μm is formed between the adjacent pixelportions for preventing current leakage. The ITO transparent electrode 3measures 47 μm wide by 147 μm long. Both the gate conductor 1 and thesource conductor 2 have a width of 9 μm. The side of the ITO transparentelectrode 3 and the gate conductor 1 overlap one another by 3 μm, andthe side of the ITO transparent electrode 3 and the source conductor 2overlap one another by 3 μm. The reflective region (the Al reflectiveelectrode 4) of each pixel portion is arranged in a lower part of thepixel portion, and occupies about one third of the total area of thepixel portion. The Al reflective electrode 4 measures 45 μm wide by 46μm long. The Al reflective electrode 4 is formed in an upper layerrelative to the TFT element 5, whereby, when seen from the substratesurface side (the display screen side), the TFT element 5 is hiddenunder (behind) the Al reflective electrode 4 as seen in a so-called planview. To deal with overetching, the Al reflective electrode 4 is formed1 μm inward of the ITO transparent electrode 3 in the left/rightdirection as seen in a plan view.

The electrode surfaces of the electrode substrates, of which one is aTFT substrate and the other is an opposing substrate, are applied withan alignment film, and then the alignment film undergoes rubbingtreatment. Then, these substrates are pasted together in such a way thatthe electrode on the TFT substrate and the electrode on the opposingsubstrate face each other. The rubbing treatment is performed on the TFTsubstrate in the downward direction of FIG. 1, for example, and isperformed on the opposing substrate in the upward direction of FIG. 1,for example. In this multi-gap structure, the transmissive portion (theITO transparent electrode 3) has a cell gap of 4.6 μm, and thereflective portion (the Al reflective electrode 4) has a cell gap of 2.3μm. The cell gap (height difference) of the transmissive and reflectiveportions may be provided on the TFT substrate or the opposing substrate;in the first embodiment, a height difference is provided on the opposingsubstrate side. Between the adjacent pixel portions, an ineffectivedisplay region in a conductor portion lying between the pixel portionson the TFT substrate and an ineffective display region in a taperedregion producing a height difference on the opposing substrate arearranged to overlap one another, as seen in a plan view.

A color filter (not shown) and a light shielding black matrix 6 areformed in the opposing substrate 509 (shown in FIG. 2). In the firstembodiment, the cell gap inside the display surface is retained with aphoto-spacer located on the opposing substrate side, and the cell gap atthe outer circumference of the display portion is retained with a glassspacer mixed in a thermoset epoxy sealing material. This sealingmaterial is provided at the outer circumference of the panel except fora liquid crystal inlet. A liquid crystal material is sealed in asfollows. The liquid crystal material is vacuum injected through theliquid crystal inlet, and then the inlet is sealed with an ultraviolet(UV) curing acrylic sealing material. Used as the liquid crystalmaterial is a nematic liquid crystal material (Δn=0.0712, Δε=7.3).

As one pixel portion, an ITO transparent electrode 3 and an Alreflective electrode 4 are arranged in an upper region and a lowerregion thereof, respectively, as seen in a plan view, and, as anotherpixel portion adjacent to the one pixel portion, an ITO transparentelectrode 3 and an Al reflective electrode 4 are arranged in an upperregion and a lower region thereof, respectively, as seen in a plan view.An inter-pixel region lying between these two adjacent pixel portionslies in the same straight line (the source conductor 2). As seen fromthe display screen side in a plan view, the black matrix 6 is disposedat the front of the source conductor 2 so as to cover the sourceconductor 2. The black matrix 6 is formed to have a multiple width (alarger-width portion 6 a and a smaller-width portion 6 b) in such a waythat it has a larger width (a larger-width portion 6 a) in thetransmissive portion (the linear region (inter-pixel region) lyingbetween the adjacent ITO transparent electrodes 3) and has a smallerwidth (a smaller-width portion 6 b) in the reflective portion (thelinear region lying between the adjacent Al reflective electrodes 4).

In this case, it is preferable that the width of the black matrix 6along the transmissive portion be in the range from 10 μm to 30 μm, bothends inclusive (or the upper end exclusive), for the following reasonsAs described earlier, the conductor width is 9 μm. When the width of theblack matrix 6 is less than 10 μm, the characteristics advantage is lostcompared to the case where the black matrix 6 is formed straight as in aconventional example. In addition, although alignment disturbance in thetransmissive region occurs within different widths depending onconditions such as cell gap, inter-pixel distance, driving state, andmaterial characteristics, it is observed within a width of up to 20 μm.Therefore, given that the two substrates are pasted together with ahorizontal displacement of 5 μm, a black matrix having a width of up to30 μm ensures a satisfactory display regardless of the above-mentionedconditions. It is further preferable that the width of the black matrix6 along the transmissive portion be equal to or greater than 10 μm butequal to or smaller than (or simply smaller than) 20 μm.

On the other hand, it is preferable that the width of the black matrix 6along the reflective portion be in the range from 3 μm to 10 μm, bothends inclusive (or the upper end exclusive), for the following reasons.The black matrix formed in the reflective portion is provided forshielding light from a reverse tilt domain and preventing color mixture.Since the manufacturing process produces a displacement of about 3 μm,it is necessary to form a black matrix having a width of at least 3 μmto completely prevent color mixture in the portion where color resistsare adjacent to each other. In addition, alignment disturbance in thereflective region occurs within different widths depending on conditionssuch as cell gap, inter-pixel distance, driving state, and materialcharacteristics. However, it is possible to obtain sufficientlysatisfactory reflective characteristics by shielding light from an areahaving a width of up to 10 μm even allowing for a displacement of thesubstrates pasted together. It is further preferable that the width ofthe black matrix 6 along the reflective portion be equal to or greaterthan 6 μm but equal to or smaller than 10 μm.

It is preferable that the width of the black matrix 6 along thereflective portion be smaller than the width of the black matrix 6 alongthe transmissive portion by, at each side, a predetermined dimension inthe range from 1 μm to 15 μm, both ends inclusive (or the upper endexclusive). When the predetermined dimension is less than 1 μm, there isa possibility that the black matrix 6 ends up having a linear shape whenfinal touches are added thereto at the end of the manufacturing process.Also in this case, the features of the present invention cannot be fullyexploited. In addition, although the difference in alignment disturbanceoccurrence width between the transmissive region and the reflectiveregion varies depending on conditions such as cell gap, inter-pixeldistance, driving state, and material characteristics, it is equal to orsmaller than (or simply smaller than) 15 μm at the maximum. Assumingthat the difference is made greater, it does not help improve thequality of a transmissive display and only reduces a transmissiveaperture ratio.

Specifically, when the liquid crystal display device 10 of the firstembodiment is driven using a dot inversion method with a white voltageof 1.2 V and a black voltage of 3.7 V, a domain afterimage appears inthe transmissive region along the source conductor 2 in an area having awidth of 8 μm. To deal with this problem, when, on the assumption that afit displacement margin resulting from the manufacturing process is 5 μmat each side, the black matrix 6 is formed to have a width of 18 μmalong the transmissive portion (the linear region lying between theadjacent ITO transparent electrodes 3) and have a width of 6 μm alongthe reflective portion (the linear region lying between the adjacent Alreflective electrodes 4) so that, as seen in a plan view, the center ofthe black matrix 6 matches the center of the source conductor 2, nodomain afterimage is observed in both transmissive/reflective displays.In addition, when the black matrix having a uniform width of 18 μm isdisposed as in a conventional example, the area of the reflective regionis 1472 square micrometers (=46 μm multiplied by 32 μm); in thisembodiment, 2024 square micrometers (=46 μm multiplied by 44 μm). Inthis way, it is possible to increase the area of the reflective regionby about 40% compared to the conventional example.

Second Embodiment

The first embodiment described above deals with a case where, betweenthe adjacent transmissive portions (the ITO transparent electrodes 3),the width of a black matrix 6 is made large enough to cover widealignment disturbance, and, between the adjacent reflective portions(the Al reflective electrodes 4), the width thereof is made small enoughto cover narrow alignment disturbance. In a second embodiment, there maybe cases where, depending on conditions such as liquid crystal cellmode, driving state, and positional relation between the electrodes,alignment disturbance of the liquid crystal occurs between the adjacenttransmissive portions (the ITO transparent electrodes), but does notoccur between the adjacent reflective portions (the Al reflectiveelectrodes). In such a case, it is possible to adopt a structure inwhich a black matrix is provided only between the adjacent transmissiveportions (the ITO transparent electrodes) and is not provided betweenthe adjacent reflective portions (the Al reflective electrodes). FIG. 4is a plan view showing an example of the structure of a principalportion of the liquid crystal display element of the second embodimentof the present invention.

In FIG. 4, in a liquid crystal display element 20 having the opposinglayer multi-gap structure, a plurality of pixel portions are arranged ina matrix on the side of a TFT substrate, which is one of a pair ofelectrode substrates. The pixel portions are provided one for eachregion surrounded by a gate conductor 11 made of tungsten and tantalumand a source conductor 12 made of titanium and aluminium. The pixelportions are each provided with an ITO transparent electrode 13 forminga transparent display region occupying an upper rectangular part of thepixel in an upper layer relative to the source conductor 12 with aninsulating layer laid in between, an Al reflective electrode 14 forminga reflective display region occupying a lower rectangular part of thepixel above the ITO transparent electrode 13, and a TFT element 15 thatis formed near the intersection of the gate conductor 11 and the sourceconductor 12 and serves as a transistor element for driving the ITOtransparent electrode 13 and the Al reflective electrode 14 of the pixelportion.

The electrode surfaces of the electrode substrates, of which one is aTFT substrate and the other is an opposing substrate opposing the TFTsubstrate, are applied with an alignment film, and then alignment filmundergoes rubbing treatment. Then, these substrates are pasted togetherin such a way that the electrode on the TFT substrate and the electrodeon the opposing substrate face each other. The rubbing treatment isperformed on the TFT substrate in the downward direction of FIG. 4, andis performed on the opposing substrate in the upward direction of FIG.4. In this multi-gap structure, the transmissive portion has a cell gapof 4.6 μm, and the reflective portion has a cell gap of 2.3 μm. The cellgap of the transmissive portion and the reflective portion may beprovided on the TFT substrate or the opposing substrate; in the secondembodiment, a height difference is provided on the opposing substrateside.

A color filter and a light shielding black matrix 16 are formed in theopposing substrate. In the second embodiment, the cell gap inside thedisplay surface is retained with a photo-spacer located on the opposingsubstrate side, and the cell gap at the outer circumference of thedisplay portion is retained with a glass spacer mixed in a thermosetepoxy sealing material. The sealing material is provided at the outercircumference of the panel except for a liquid crystal inlet. A liquidcrystal is sealed between the substrates as follows. A liquid crystalmaterial is vacuum injected through the liquid crystal inlet, and thenthe inlet is sealed with an ultraviolet (UV) curing acrylic sealingmaterial. Used as the liquid crystal material is a nematic liquidcrystal material (Δn=0.0712, Δε=7.3).

In the second embodiment, the black matrix 16 is not formed in thereflective portion (the region including a region lying between theadjacent Al reflective electrodes 14), but is formed only in thetransmissive portion (the region including a region lying between theadjacent ITO transparent electrodes 13). Although there is a possibilitythat color mixture occurs due to displacement of the substrates pastedtogether, there is no loss of reflective aperture ratio caused by theblack matrix. Thus, this structure is suitable for applications thatplace greater importance on brightness than on color purity.

As described above, the first and second embodiments deal with amulti-gap semi-transmissive liquid crystal display device capable of atransmissive display that does not suffer from domain afterimage or thelike and offers high display quality and a reflective display that isbright due to high reflectance. In this liquid crystal display device,the black matrix 6 is formed to have a larger width in the linear regionlying between the adjacent ITO transparent electrodes 3 (the linearregion along the longer side direction of the source conductor 2overlapping the transmissive portion) and have a smaller width in thelinear region lying between the adjacent Al reflective electrodes 4 (thelinear region along the longer side direction of the source conductor 2overlapping the reflective portion), or the black matrix 16 is formedonly in the linear region lying between the adjacent ITO transparentelectrodes 13 (the linear region along the longer side direction of thesource conductor 2 overlapping the transmissive portion) and is notformed in the linear region lying between the adjacent Al reflectiveelectrodes 14 (the linear region along the longer side direction of thesource conductor 2 overlapping the reflective portion). This enables thetransmissive portion to offer a display with high contrast that does notsuffer from afterimage or the like by shielding light from the domainlying between the adjacent pixels, and the reflective portion to offer abrighter display by increasing the aperture ratio thereof by making theblack matrix width as small as possible or forming no black matrix.

The first and second embodiments deal with structures in which a pixelregion is divided into two regions, one of which is an ITO transparentelectrode forming a transmissive display region in an upper part of thepixel, and the other is an Al reflective electrode forming a reflectivedisplay region in a lower part of the pixel. However, the presentinvention is not limited to this specific structure, but may be soimplemented that the pixel region is divided into two regions, one ofwhich is an ITO transparent electrode forming a transmissive displayregion in a left part of the pixel, and the other is an Al reflectiveelectrode forming a reflective display region in a right part of thepixel. In this case, the black matrix is provided in the left/rightdirection above a gate conductor serving as a scanning conductor so asto overlap the gate conductor, and is formed to have a multiple width insuch a way that it has a larger width in the linear region lying betweenthe adjacent transmissive display regions and has a smaller width in thelinear region lying between the adjacent reflective display regions.Alternatively, the black matrix is formed only above the linear regionlying between the adjacent transmissive display regions and is notformed above the linear region lying between the adjacent reflectivedisplay regions.

The pixel region may be divided into three regions with alternatingtransmissive and reflective display regions in the up/down direction orthe left/right direction. In this case, the pixel region is divided intothree regions in the up/down direction or the left/right direction withalternating transmissive and reflective display regions in that order,or with alternating reflective and transmissive display regions in thatorder.

Alternatively, the pixel region may be divided into four regions(divided crosswise into four regions) with alternating transmissive andreflective display regions in the up/down and left/right directions. Inthis case, for example, the pixel region is divided into four regions insuch a way that, in an upper part of the pixel, the transmissive andreflective display regions are arranged from left to right in thatorder, and, in a lower part of the pixel, the reflective andtransmissive display regions are arranged from left to right in thatorder. That is, the same display regions are laid diagonally.

All that is required is that a pixel region, which is rectangular asseen in a plan view, be divided into one or more transmissive displayregions, which are rectangular as seen in a plan view, and one or morereflective display regions, which are rectangular as seen in a planview. In this case, between the two adjacent pixel regions, a blackmatrix is formed to have a multiple width in such a way that it has alarger width above the linear region lying between the adjacenttransmissive display regions and has a smaller width above the linearregion lying between the adjacent reflective display regions.Alternatively, a black matrix is formed only above the linear regionlying between the adjacent transmissive display regions and is notformed above the linear region lying between the adjacent reflectivedisplay regions.

Hereinbefore, the present invention has been described by way ofpreferred first and second embodiments. The present invention, however,should not be interpreted as limited to those embodiments. It should beunderstood that the scope of the present invention should be interpretedonly in light of the scope of the appended claims. It should beunderstood that a person skilled in the art can practice the presentinvention within an equivalent scope in light of the description of thespecifically described preferred embodiments thereof, on the basis ofthe description of the present invention and technical common sense. Itshould be understood that the contents of all publications, patentapplications, patents, and other references mentioned herein areapplicable to explain the present invention as equally as what isspecifically described in the present specification itself.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the present invention, in a semi-transmissive active-matrixliquid crystal display device, in particular, in the field of a liquidcrystal display device such as a cellular phone or a car navigationsystem that is provided with a medium or small sized high-definitionmonitor, a transmissive portion can offer a display with high contrastthat does not suffer from afterimage or the like by shielding light fromthe domain lying between the adjacent pixels, and a reflective portioncan offer a brighter display by increasing the aperture ratio thereof bymaking a black matrix width as small as possible or forming no blackmatrix.

1-14. (canceled)
 15. A liquid crystal display device comprising: aliquid crystal display panel; a liquid crystal layer sandwiched betweena pair of substrates of the panel; a plurality of pixel regions, whereineach of the plurality of the pixel regions has at least one transmissivedisplay region and at least one reflective display region whichcontribute to display of an image by the display device; wherein thetransmissive display region is adjacent to a transmissive display regionof an adjacent pixel region without interposing the reflective displayregion therebetween, and the reflective display region is adjacent to areflective display region of an adjacent pixel region withoutinterposing the transmissive display region therebetween; a lightshielding portion is provided at an inter-pixel region lying betweenadjacent transmissive display regions and is not provided at aninter-pixel region lying between adjacent reflective display regions;and wherein the liquid crystal layer is thicker at the transmissivedisplay region than at the reflective display region.
 16. The liquidcrystal display device of claim 15, wherein the pixel region is dividedinto two regions in an up/down or left/right direction, so that thetransmissive display region and the reflective display region arearranged in the two divided regions.
 17. The liquid crystal displaydevice of claim 15, wherein the pixel region is divided into threeregions in an up/down or left/right direction, so that the transmissivedisplay region and the reflective display region are alternatelyarranged in the three divided regions.
 18. The liquid crystal displaydevice of claim 15, wherein the pixel region is divided into fourregions in an up/down and left/right directions, so that thetransmissive display region and the reflective display region arealternately arranged in the four divided regions.
 19. The liquid crystaldisplay device of claim 15, wherein a conductor portion is formedbetween adjacent pixel regions in one substrate of the pair ofsubstrates and at least one tapered region producing a height differencebetween the transmissive and reflective display regions, the taperedregion being formed in another substrate, which faces the one substrate,are arranged to overlap one another, as seen in a plan view.
 20. Theliquid crystal display device of claim 15, where a scanning conductorand a signal conductor are provided at one of the pair of substrates,and the light shielding portion is provided at another of the pair orsubstrates.
 21. The liquid crystal display device of claim 15, whereinthe plurality of pixel regions are arranged in a matrix, the pixelregions are provided one for each region surrounded by a scanningconductor and a signal conductor, and each pixel region includes atransparent electrode formed in the transmissive display region, areflective electrode formed in the reflective display region, and atransistor element that is formed near an intersection of the scanningconductor and the signal conductor and drives the transparent electrodeand the reflective electrode according to a signal voltage fed from thesignal conductor based on a scanning signal fed from the scanningconductor.